


Hesitant Heart

by deepestbluest



Category: Tales of Berseria
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/F, Gay Awakening (In Progress), Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-14 00:49:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29535003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deepestbluest/pseuds/deepestbluest
Summary: Eleanor just wants the people around her to behave, but the group she's joined isn't cooperative.
Relationships: Minor or Background Relationship(s), Velvet Crowe/Eleanor Hume
Comments: 8
Kudos: 22





	Hesitant Heart

**Author's Note:**

> Hi I'm four and a half years late, but Berseria sure has gays, huh?
> 
> The title is from Nana Mizuki's song "Hot Blood"

Every exorcist dresses properly. Their clothes are sensible and cover their bodies. They took care to look presentable at times; the people feel safer in the hands of a well-dressed group.

The group she's found herself forcibly part of doesn't have the same standards.

Rokurou and Eizen’s clothes do cover their bodies. Rokurou is too comfortable showing the part of his face where the proof of his daemon transformation is visible, which sets Eleanor's teeth on edge, but he doesn't show much skin. Eizen’s waistcoat isn't buttoned properly, which is frustrating, but his shirt covers what the waistcoat doesn't.

The problem is that while the rest of the group isn't shy, the two of them go from modest to naked in a heartbeat.

Rokurou is the worst offender. He grabs any opportunity to trade his clothes for a dip in a hot spring with both hands. He’ll be changed into a towel before anyone else has their shoes off, and only Laphicet’s embarrassed request that he not just walk around half naked prevents him from changing in the middle of an inn rather than waiting to reach the correct part of the inn.

It would be easy to blame this on the corruption that stripped him of his humanity, but he's so intelligent and well-behaved the rest of the time that she suspects this was part of him from the beginning.

Never far behind him is Eizen, who usually has more common sense. He accepts Rokurou’s challenges to see who can strip faster and who can get into the water first. Maybe it's a sailor thing. There can't be many opportunities for real baths when they're on voyages, and they're at sea for months at a time. Even pirate ships aren't immune to that.

Whenever there's a divide between women's baths and men’s, it's a relief. Neither of them leers at Eleanor and the others or does anything unusual, but somehow, the energy between them feels laden.

Just as bad, when they have mixed baths, neither of them makes any effort at preserving modesty. Eleanor has seen far more of their bodies than she ever wanted.

If only they would be more like Laphicet. He's a very considerate boy who doesn’t instigate nonsense.

When the baths aren't mixed, she can't be sure that holds true, but she's certain it does.

Despite their refusal to behave, the men are easier to deal with. With them, it's just a lot of muscle and… other things. She isn't all that distracted by them. Embarrassed, yes, and it would be very good if they learned some modesty, but being around them is fundamentally tolerable.

Velvet and Magilou on the other hand…

Magilou’s bright top draws Eleanor’s eyes constantly. It's so vibrant and cheerful, as dramatic as the woman herself, and if it weren't for the low neckline that Eleanor can't help but notice and follow to Magilou’s breasts, it wouldn't be so bad. It’s difficult not to glance over and wonder how Magilou hasn’t fallen out of it, but Eleanor is nothing if not disciplined.

Besides, next to the rest of her outfit, the top is insufficient but not completely inappropriate.

Books don't constitute a skirt. There are gaps between them that leave Magilou’s bare legs impossible not to notice. And her underwear, bright pink like the rest of her clothes, has such a low rise that Eleanor has to wonder how they stay up, too. Magilou likes to move around the battlefield. Her skimpy underwear shouldn't stay so perfectly in place.

Maybe it's a spell? Magilou is a witch after all.

Velvet isn't a witch, but her strange outfit is equally confusing.

Eleanor meant her promise to repair Velvet’s clothes. Velvet may not feel the cold, but her body might be vulnerable to it. Leaving all that skin uncovered is dangerous. Velvet fights primarily with her legs; leaving them protected only by the tattered remains of other people’s pants could get her hurt. Her greaves don't cover nearly enough, and those tiny shorts aren't any more practical than Magilou’s underwear.

Her shirt is no better. Eleanor is confident that they get around as easily as they do because no one sees anything more than Velvet’s bare midriff- another source of potential injury- and her breasts.

The pin holding her shirt together is under a lot of tension, as is the fabric it's securing. Eleanor can see it straining under the stress of holding together. The laces down the front do nothing to alleviate the problem; they only serve to direct the eye up to Velvet’s breasts.

The sooner Eleanor fulfills her offer and repairs Velvet’s clothes, the better. They'll still be able to get around if Velvet’s body isn't on display.

Having the time to fix them will be difficult, and Velvet will have to be naked while Eleanor works, so maybe the next time they visit a bathhouse?

But it would be a shame to miss out on the chance to relax, and Velvet will probably threaten to eat her if the repairs aren't perfect.

It would lead to another fight between them, of course. Eleanor’s oath requires that she obey Velvet’s orders- which Velvet has been oddly uninterested in using- but she won't be cowed.

If Velvet isn't careful, the strain of an argument might be enough to make her shirt open, and that would give Eleanor the opening she needs to win. Velvet would be embarrassed, as she should be. She and Magilou are too comfortable walking around dressed like they are. Maybe a mishap like that would make her dress more appropriately and Eleanor would finally be able to focus.

“Hey! Eleanor!”

Blinking the thought away, Eleanor looks around and finds Velvet frowning at her.

Those clothes really are too small for her.

Eleanor swallows. “What is it?”

For some reason, Velvet coughs. “Your dress.”

“What about my dress-”

A rush of wind on her thighs freezes the words in her throat. 

Lost in her thoughts, Eleanor had wandered to a part of the deck where there isn't much shelter from the wind. The feeling catches Eleanor by surprise, and to her horror, the hem of her dress has risen unacceptably high up her legs.

A blush heats her face as she grabs her dress and yanks it back into place. The breeze doesn't stop, so neither does she.

A few feet away, Velvet crosses her arms and stares.

Eleanor focuses on Velvet’s face. There's nothing of interest below Velvet’s chin. There's nothing to see where Velvet’s arms are crossed.

“What is it?” Eleanor asks when the wind finally calms and Velvet still hasn't said anything. “What are you looking at?”

“Nothing,” Velvet says quickly.

“You're lying!”

“No, I'm not! It’s just-” Velvet looks away. Her cheeks are pink from the chill in the air. “The Abbey really knew what they were doing when they designed those outfits.”

Not following, Eleanor blinks at her. “How so?”

“You know, the short skirt and the tall boots. All those frills.”

Velvet shifts, uncomfortable in a way Eleanor can't make sense of. Other than protecting Laphicet and making threats, Velvet hasn't shown interest in engaging with anyone in any way other than using them. Why would she care about Eleanor’s clothes?

“I don’t understand what you mean, but I’m going to take it as a compliment. So thank you.”

Velvet nods at her then stalks away to stand with Laphicet.

Eleanor watches her go with a strange sense of disappointment. She doesn't actually like Velvet. They aren't at each other’s throats so much now, but they aren't friends. There's no reason for her to be bothered by Velvet’s decision to leave.

Still, she can't shake the feeling that she's missing something.

⁂

Rokurou shakes his head. “They're terrible at this.”

Perched next to him on the yard, Eizen gives him a significant look. “Not everyone is as lucky as you are. Neither of them has someone to hold her hand and explain why she can't think straight around the other. Eleanor grew up in the Abbey, and Velvet probably can't remember what her adolescence was like before she was imprisoned.”

“I didn't have any experience with anyone until I was a daemon. I still managed to figure things out.”

“That's because you were too preoccupied with swords to notice. You weren't prevented from noticing.” Eizen raises his eyebrows. “You're still too preoccupied with them.”

“I’m a swordsman, you know. Keeping my swords in good condition is important to my survival.”

“I do know that. That doesn't change the fact that you were flirting with me for months without realizing you were doing it.”

“Because you're too subtle. How was I supposed to know you were flirting with me?”

“I brought you to my cabin,” Eizen reminds him. "We had two drinks after a shared dinner, and I suggested we go somewhere private."

Rokurou considers that. “Huh. You really weren't that subtle.”

“Of course I wasn't. I'd already tried that. You aren't stupid, but none of it stuck."

Trying to get Rokurou to understand what he was doing had felt impossible. Rokurou can read women well enough, but he kept giving Eizen signals and not following through on them.

Grabbing him after a battle and kissing him wasn't Eizen's best plan, but it was the one that worked.

"Be more generous with them," Eizen tells him. "Neither knows what she's doing, and Eleanor’s entire sense of the world is crumbling. She's dealing with a lot, and falling for a daemon when she's feared and hated them for most of her life isn't going to be easy for her to accept.

"Everything is different for her now."

“You're thinking of Edna, aren't you?" Rokurou asks. "She’ll have to acclimate to a world without you, and you won't be able to help her."

Eizen doesn't answer, but the press of Rokurou’s body against his is nicer than thoughts of the curse and the little sister he can never see again.

⁂

Rokurou and Eizen are having one of their broody couple moments up high, so Magilou is free to make her way over to Eleanor without getting heckled. 

Maybe she's stacking the deck against herself in her bet against Velvet, but there's just as much fun to be had by nudging the fledgling rebel toward an epiphany as there is in needling their merry band’s bleak captain.

A naïve exorcist and a vengeful daemon- what a pair they’ll make!

“So, Eleanor,” Magilou begins, glancing over at Laphicet and Velvet. The boy seems to be content examining his compass, but Velvet blatantly keeps glancing over at them.

It's a miracle that they've made it this far.

Eleanor looks at Magilou with distrust.

It's not an incorrect reaction, but it isn't very nice.

She's finally growing some teeth. She’ll need them to keep up with Velvet and her quest for the blood of Eleanor’s hero.

“Can I help you, Magilou?”

“It's more of a question of what I can do for you.”

Eleanor’s face scrunches with suspicion. “You want to help me? Why?”

“Can't I just be magnanimous?”

“No.”

Magilou clutches her heart. “You wound me, Eleanor! Here I was thinking I'd give you a nice gift, but you react to my gift with such coldness!”

As predicted, Eleanor blushes and turns up the earnestness.

“I'm sorry, Magilou! I would be very happy to accept whatever you choose to share with me!”

Orphans like this one really are too quick to latch onto others. Eleanor’s heart is going to get trampled, and Magilou could as easily step on it as she could point it in the direction it wants to go in.

The old man would choose the former, and if Eleanor could withstand it, she'd be brought into the fold.

Magilou isn't Melchior. She can see that Eleanor is better like this.

Plastering on her biggest, most obviously fake smile, Magilou leans in and whispers, “Velvet is hoping you'll help her with her clothes.”

Eleanor turns tulip red, and Magilou walks away to the sound of Eleanor’s embarrassed spluttering.

The old man doesn't understand that chaos is what makes humans fun. The world of perfect logic he and Artorius want isn't human.

Hopping onto a barrel, Magilou smiles to herself. It's unfortunate for them, but there's no better source of chaos than a doomed romance.

**Author's Note:**

> That Skit™️ lives in my head rent free
> 
> If you want to, you can find me [on tumblr](https://asotin.tumblr.com/) where I'm wishing for a direct sequel that's just Velvet and Eleanor running around doing gay stuff together


End file.
